#i knew being team jacob was the correct choice

[sncwonthebeach]

taylor swift: do not bully j*hn m*yer

both taylor lautners:

[dripkingpetey]

untitled-j.markström

I didn't even intend to post this at all, I was just writing this cause I was bored and really missed marky but @passthehockeyplease​ made me post it so enjoy this poorly written+not proof read fic?( idk if you can call it a fic) I know nothing really makes sense especially since the reader is playing in the nhl and it is a female reader but just go with it haha. anyways I hope you enjoy :) (also, please do not come at me for any mistakes lol)

warnings:swearing+alcohol I think

2002words

You couldn’t believe it when you saw the notification on your phone. “Jacob Markstrom has signed with the Calgary Flames to a 6x6 contract!” Feeling a wave of emotions flushing through your body as your best friend, Jacob called you. You did possibly the worst thing, smashing your phone across the room as you bursted into tears of angriness and sadness. “What the fuck.” Was all you managed to mumble.

You couldn’t believe it, your bestfriend leaving the team you had spent years together on, without even telling you he was considering the offer. You heard a knock on the front door and you knew it was him, you walk to the peep hole of your apartment door to see if you were correct and you were. “Jacob go the fuck away I’m not talking to you.” You mumbled, just to the point where he could faintly hear you. “Please, just let me in. I can explain it.” The familiar calming Swedish voice rang from the other side of your front door as you hesitated whether you should let him in or not, quickly pulling your hand away from the doorknob you realized what you were doing. You latched the chain lock on your front door which you have never done before and Jacob heard it, he knew you didn’t want to talk but he had to talk to you, he had to tell you what was happening. But you never watched to see his face or anything of him ever again, hoping he would just leave Vancouver without talking to you and giving you and explanation and that’s exactly what he had to do. 

“Y/n you can’t just do this, you both miss each other and you know he had to sign with them.” Brock tried convincing you to talk to Jacob but it wasn’t working. Brock and Elias are the only people you’ve seen since then, Elias stayed in Vancouver with you for the off-season as Brock went back to minnesota but recently returned for the season. “I can’t just do what?” You questioned angrily. “Do whatever I want without saying anything? Well seems like I’m not the only person that did that right?” Brock was shocked by your words, he knew you were hurt but not this much. “Yeah, I do miss him. But what the fuck can I do Brock, there’s no way he’s going to come back and play for Vancouver and there is absolutely no way that I’m playing for Calgary, him and I’s friendship is over wether we like it or not. End of story.” You started tearing up as you said that. Brock moved over in hopes to comfort you since he didn’t know what to say. “I don’t want to kick you out but I have to, I need time to myself right now.” Brock understood and gave you a quick kiss on the head as he walked out the door, pulling out his phone to text Jacob what happened. “You hurt her, really badly.” Was all Brock managed to type. 

-

Tomorrow was the first game of the season and you just so happen was scheduled to play against Calgary, groaning as you saw the schedule since you knew you were gonna have to see Jacob. It wasn’t unusual for the season to start off with a road trip, so you started packing. Cleaning out your hockey bag since it was a tradition for you to do that at the start of every season, you saw something. “Markys hoodie,” You mumbled as you picked up Jacobs hoodie, he gave it to you last year while you were on a road trip in New York but you remember it like it was yesterday. You picked it up and put it on, remembering how big he was and the way the sweater absorbed your body, you knew you were going to regret it as the memories came back. Finding yourself crying once again, you picked yourself up and finished packing before you hung the hoodie back up. 

The hoodie ended up haunting you for the rest of the day, even though it was sitting in your closet, it was the only thing you saw whenever you even looked in the direction. You missed him, too much. You would be lying if you said he wasn’t occupying your brain 24/7, you knew it was so bad when you were driving to meet up with the team for the first game and all you could think about was not being seat mates with Jacob anymore. “Are you sure she’s okay?” Bo whispered over to Elias as you pulled into the parking lot, putting on sunglasses to hide your puffy eyes. “She isn’t, and none of us know what the fuck to do.” Elias quickly whispered before you made your way over to the guys and hugged Bo. “Hey,” You smiled as Bo returned the hug. Bo was always like a big brother to you, you told him about any problems you had but not this one. You don’t know why telling him didn’t cross your mind but you knew that Brock and Elias definitely told him as he pulled you into a tight hug. “Hey y/n.” He smiled at you before helping you with your luggage. “Are we ready for the first road trip of the season guys?” Bo exclaimed trying to hype you guys up and it worked. You unzipped the puffer jacket you had on over your hoodie as everyone got seated, it was unusually cold that day in Vancouver but you were glad to be going to a city that was even colder. 

You realized you didn’t have a seat mate this season which you tried to take as a good thing, it meant you could sit with anyone as long as they wanted to sit next to you. It also meant that you could sleep more comfortably and you took advance of that right away, falling asleep with your legs stretched out to the empty seat beside you as soon as the plane elevated into the air.

“She smells like Jacob.” Bo said quietly to Elias, not wanting anyone else to hear. “I know, I don't think she saw him so I'm guessing she has his clothes and was wearing them.” Elias responded right away in the same level of voice. They exchanged a look at each other, knowing that they had to help you somehow.

It was the next day, you tried to not think about Jacob which resulted in you working out at the hotel gym that the whole team was staying at. “Hey, keep some energy for the game tonight.” Bo joked, which was really because he was concerned about you but he didn’t want to let it show.  “Oh I’m fine,” You said quickly while panting. “See, just working out a bit to stretch the muscles and be even better for the game.” You lied, it was to get your mind off of Jacob. Bo took a quick peek around the gym to see if anyone was around before he started speaking again. “Listen y/n, I hate to ruin your mood but I know what your thinking about. It was hard for everyone and I know especially on you but you know I’m always here to talk if you need someone.” You nodded at Bo’s words as he later on encouraged you to go upstairs and get ready for the game and that’s exactly what you did. You braided your hair tightly after the cold shower you took to wake yourself up, the braids were a signature of yours. Whenever there was an important game you would braid it up for good luck and it worked this time, outscoring Calgary 9-3 it was a win for the Canucks. It was hard seeing Jacob on the ice and especially not in Canucks gear but you did it, without crying or letting your emotions take over your brain. 

“Yeah I’ll head back to the hotel for tonight, I’m super exhausted.” You said as you declined the invite from the guys to go out and they all groaned, but they knew not to ask you again. You quickly found yourself being the only one in the locker room, heading out with your stuff when you accidentally bumped into someone. “Oh my god, I’m so sor-” You cut yourself off when you saw who you had bumped into, Jacob. “Sorry- Y/n?” Jacob also cut himself off when he saw you, he didn’t know what to say. “Please stay, and talk to me.” Jacob begged as you started to walk away but you stopped. “What is there to say Jacob? You’re ‘sorry’ that you didn’t have a choice? We both know damn well that you could’ve told me first, or even anyone else. But no, you didn’t even try to talk to me till the news was out.” You said sternly and you could see the emotions on his face. “I thought you were my bestfriend.” You mumbled as you started tearing up, not letting him say a single thing as you walked away to the hotel. 

It was safe to say you were a wreck, not even noticing the tears that were streaming down your face until you saw a reflection of yourself in the tv of your hotel room. Finding any alcohol you could in the hotel mini fridge, you drank it all. Knowing it was going to cost lots but who cares, it took a second for the alcohol to set in but you knew you were going to wound up throwing up by the end of the night. You don’t know how but Jacob ended up at your door, you saw the surprised look on his face when you opened immediately. He was surprised partly because you opened, and partly because you were drunk. “Can I please come in?” Jacob asked as your brain sobered up a little and you knew what you were doing, leading him in as you sat down on the bed. “They forced me to sign the contract, I wanted to stay in Vancouver.” Was the first thing Jacob blurted out, you were confused at how he was forced but you let him explain. Jacob started talking about everything before you cut him off. “Shut up and kiss me.” You whispered as you moved closer and Jacob was confused but he kissed you, knowing that he wanted to kiss you as well. You had been waiting for this kiss forever, even though you always addressed Jacob as your bestfriend, you knew deep down that you liked him. “Fuck,” Jacob mumbled as he pulled away from you, almost tearing up. “I missed you, so so fucking much.” Jacob mumbled before noticing the weird taste in his mouth, it was all of the alcohol you drank prior to him arriving. “How much did you drink?” Jacob asked with a deep tone of concern in his voice as you laid your head on his chest. “All of those.” You mumbled, pointing your index finger at the pile of mini bottles on the table. “Oh shit,” He quietly cursed to himself knowing that you were going to be very drunk when all of the alcohol finally hits. It took awhile but in this moment you were absolutely blackout drunk, throwing up in a trashcan beside the bed as Jacob held your hair back and got you some water. “I’ll go get you some water.” Jacob said as he rubbed your back softly and you laid back down, you took a big sip of the water before thanking him. “I can’t stay in Vancouver without you, I miss you.” You mumbled while tearing up at him. “Its gonna be alright.” Jacob held you tight in his grip and kissed your head as you drifted off to sleep in his arms, completely forgetting about the awkwardness and what’s going to happen when you woke up.

[crqstalite]

from the scrap pile.

yet another bit of scraps, this time from that time i told myself to novelize me2. obviously, didnt go over well (tl;dr, not enough kaidan for what i was planning to do with a sort of ‘series’), but there are some bits im really proud of in here (i’ll post lali + joker’s interaction in a bit so i can stagger these)

...possible warnings? it’s a combat scene. basically. mass effect 2. kinda worked as an introduction for annika post me1.

-

Kodelyn hears Miranda's voice from just beyond where she'd entered the alley, though there's an extra pair of boots that she makes out, and she pauses to lift the med-kit with her.

Distracted so easily, she only just makes out a hooded figure before she can pull a weapon. She's knocked off balance so quickly by a kick on the ankles she can't even register what's going on until her head hits the ground, hard, with a heavy boot on her chest holding her down and a glowing blue hand above her that holds a pistol aimed for her head. She barely makes out the sight of bullets flying at the person above her, though the blue corona flickers into a shield, blocking them as the shells fall to the ground harmlessly. She picks up the quiet sound of biotics thrumming above her, hearing Mordin's voice and a grunt from Miranda. They'd gotten hit by something, or each other. Her head swims, groaning as she blinks away dirt from her eyes. She can see stars in her eyelids as she squeezes them closed, trying to regain any sense of balance she still had. There'd be a knot on the back of her skull later, she knows it. 

Fear bubbles up in her throat, painkillers flooding her senses and numbing the shock. She's not wearing a helmet, hence the buzzing feeling that's starting to come over her. Her shields had to still be intact, but they couldn't take a shot at point blank range if they decided to shoot. Who knew who this even was? Some rogue biotic with a chip on their shoulder for her? It wasn't like she hadn't made it clearly obvious who she was, with the armor, N7 patch and all. 

She's beginning to feel herself spiral as the boot grows heavier on her chest, straining to breathe properly. Kodelyn's chest feels like it's constricting in on itself, but the rational part of her knows she's panicking, reliving old events. Had been one of the first things the N7 training had taught her how to regulate. Her eyes dart around for those terrifying few seconds, stars dancing across her vision at dizzying speed. Cotton feels like it's filling her ears, the hissing noise of something that sends a jolt through her body joining it.

She considers her options in that split second that her attacker's attention is split between her and her ground team, before wrenching the other person off their feet with a shove to the shins that knocks them off balance. They stumble into a wall, Kodelyn jumping for the chance to close in for a melee hit with her omni-tool glowing a menacing orange on her wrist. She doesn't get the chance before her attacker hits back with a biotic kick to her side, knocking the wind out of her. She's slow to reactivate her omni-tool, eventually realizing pulling her SMG on them would do more harm than good if they chose to use a shield. They take swift advantage of her incompetence in that moment she spends considering. Her attacker punches her a few more times with glowing fists, strategically placing Kodelyn in between them and Miranda and Mordin as she takes the onslaught. A sound strategy, she has to admit, as much as her body throbs at the idea. Seeing this, Kodelyn clumsily struggles to get the upper hand on them, her bulky armor taking a majority of the blows but still leaving places where she's sure she'll bruise.

Eventually, she does get behind them. Thinking it's over, she pulls her pistol out, pointing it at her attacker, who in the dim light whips around. Time slows down as their corona fully comes out, blue lighting their surroundings like a strike of lightning, her attacker charging her biotically. It formulates in her mind then and there that she's been cornered by who they’d been looking for, or at least someone who worked for them. However, she doesn't have long to even say anything before the force catches up to her and sends her skidding backwards onto the pavement. She can't breathe for those few moments, feeling weightless before the ground rushes up to meet her, slamming her back down onto the ground at an awkward angle. Pain shoots up her back as she struggles to draw a breath.

Now she's definitely sure she's gained another bruise, if not a few broken ribs at the same time.

Her hand to hand instructor would be pissed with her if he saw her now. Then again, all the biotics they knew of by that point were all Alliance, there hadn't been a need to learn to fight against them while they were on your side. These vanguards were too much of a wild card to reliably predict how to safely counteract their biotic charges short of literally side stepping them when you saw them coming.

If, you saw them coming.

Still, this was just embarrassing now, her reaction time had been slow and sluggish. Probably why it'd been so easy for them to get the jump on her. Either the Illusive Man or her sister were watching her suit cam, and she'd probably have to answer for a few things when she got back to the Normandy. And maybe take Jacob up on that offer to get some combat training in for the crew.

"Shepard!" Mordin's voice rings through her ears as Miranda closes in on the person. The Salarian offers her a hand up after side stepping the dueling pair, and she gratefully takes it while he pulls up his omni-tool. Blue lights the small space as Miranda throws the other person, though they expected that and counter with a shield, narrowly avoiding the warp she throws out moments later. It's enough of a distraction that she fumbles around for her own Carnifex, and takes steady aim in between the scuffle. Pulling the trigger, the bullet hits the attacker directly in the left arm, a clang sounding and reverberating against the walls of the side street.

A clang?

Her first thought is that it's a robot. Which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, unless the biotics were just for show and some trick of the light. Yet, the high impact of the shot distracts them long enough for Miranda to get a solid biotic flare in, and they tumble backwards, skidding on their boots into a crouched position. Only then does Kodelyn notice the small party of onlookers they've gathered, and shoots off a bullet in the distance to scare them off. They scurry in different directions, and only then does she approach the still shrouded person. Maybe they've accepted they've been caught, darting a glance to the operative and scientist who have their guns pulled on them. It's easy enough to goad them into moving out of the alley and into the light, though they don't look happy about it in the slightest.

She waves Miranda off to face them properly, the person rubbing their jaw with a grey, metallic hand. Able to focus better on who had admittedly taken her down rather well, purple-blue eyes flicker back at her, a red scarf covering the bottom half of their pale face. A hood is over their head, so she can't discern what color their hair is. A scar runs through their eye, still raised and red.

It takes her a moment to pull herself together, wiping away blood from where the impact had split her lip, "Widow, I presume?"

They don't answer for a moment, eyes narrowing at her. A chill runs down her spine.

"And you think your name is Shepard?" The deep feminine voice asks suspiciously, eyes darting down to the N7 patch on her chest. They scoff, "I'll have to say, Verner doesn't have anything on you. The similarities are nearly uncanny."

She can't place the voice. Maybe distorted through her ears, maybe because the accent isn't clear cut. Either way, they cross their arms and storm ahead, "You're not the real Shepard. A copy, maybe. Plastic surgery? Some Alliance officer to calm us all down? They tried that one for a while."

Alliance officer? That was a little terrifying to think about, in retrospect. Still, that wasn't her focus right then, steeling her tone from wavering, "My name is Shepard. Maybe I should be grateful I'm being recognized at all."

"You're the same person who's been trailing us," Miranda muses out loud, "If you don't think this is her -- which it is -- then why bother coming after her? A form of revenge?"

They skirt the question, "I don't know how you managed to find me here, or why Cerberus wants me, but you're going after the Collectors, I presume. Took someone long enough to realize they're the real enemy here."

"I doubt the galaxy is just in denial," Kodelyn responds, reholstering her pistol from where it'd been in her hands, "Colonies have been disappearing for months. It isn't so easily ignored."

"You talk as if you've been alive for the last two years. There were a lot of people who thought you were dead, Shepard. Think they even had a parade for you somewhere on Earth,"  They say matter-of-factly, as if they're saying she doesn't already know, "I don't know what your deal is, but I've got better things to do than duel with your sub-par combat skills."

Their omni-tool pings on their wrist when they trail off before Kodelyn can say anything, and they shove Mordin out of their path to leave the alley. They turn over their shoulder as an afterthought, shrugging for them to follow. 

"Shepard, you can't tell me you think this is in any way a good idea." Miranda hisses out in a whisper, watching as they turn the corner, "They could be a liability going forward if they attacked you for thinking you were a clone. We might be better off going after Archangel ourselves."

"Operative Lawson is correct. Choosing mercenary who tried to kill you, poor choice, Shepard." Mordin nods, "Would much rather work with someone less...problematic."

Something rubs her the wrong way about Widow, and she files their opinions away for thought when the real choice came to fruition. If she could have both, and it turned out they weren't interested in putting a bullet in her back, then it might work in her favor. But considering the fact they'd just laid her out then and there on the concrete, she didn't have high hopes for option one.

"I'm sure you can guess why we're here then, we need you for this fight," Kodelyn catches up to their shorter stride, but they don't even answer her, "But I'm guessing you're not budging until you finish here."

"Hm, then they remade you with a brain. Comforting." They nod, metal fingers flying over the keyboard of her 'tool, "Then if you know everything about me, then I'm guessing you know about the vendetta I have against Archangel." Kodelyn nods, and they pause by another apartment door, waving their omni-tool over it, "Bastard has caused me some...problems, since I've been here. If I'm going off to do something with a lower survival rate than living here, I'd rather be assured he won't be taunting me from the land of the living."

"You want him dead."

[douxreviews]

Star Trek: Discovery - ‘New Eden’ Review

Pike: "If you're telling me that this ship can skip across the universe on a highway made of mushrooms, I kind of have to take it on faith."

By nature I love brevity: Though the improvements to Discovery as a whole continue to do their work, this episode is bogged down by its attempt at religious themes when it lacks a clear understanding of religion.

'New Eden' starts out with the same log that closed out last week's 'Brother.' The opening scene with Burnham and Pike is a good example of the new status quo aboard the Disco. The friendlier, more team-oriented leadership of Captain Pike combined with the more relaxed, less anxious tone of the series as a whole make the scenes on the Disco herself work well. The character interactions were good, particularly between Saru and Tilly. I also thought the final solution looked really cool, even if there are numerous science gripes one could take. It was fairly obvious that Tilly's friend wasn't real, and once we found out it was a friend from her childhood, I guessed that she was dead. Still, that didn't make their interactions any less fun to watch, and the moment Tilly figures out that May is dead was sufficiently creepy. I think it's Mary Wiseman's expression that really sells it.

My chief gripe with the episode lies in the scenes set on the planet. To explain fully why I don't like these sequences, I'll have to get pretty in depth with philosophy. If you're not interested in reading all that, the TL;DR is that the episode fails to understand religion or religious people enough to portray them realistically, and that its attempts to stay above religious disagreements and not take sides lead it to unintentionally choose a different side entirely. There's a lot more to unpack than just that, though, and that's really the bulk of what I have to say about this episode, so continue on if you are interested in engaging your philosophical side.

There's an old story about five blind wise men wandering through the desert. After a time, they come across an elephant, and unable to see it, they reach out to touch the creature. The first grabs hold of the leg and declares, 'The elephant is like a tree.' The second grabs hold of the trunk and says, 'No, the elephant is like a snake.' The third grabs hold of the tail and corrects both, 'No, the elephant is like a rope.' The fourth grabs hold of the ear and informs them, 'The elephant is actually like a heavy piece of leather.' And the final one grabs hold of the elephant's side and says, 'It's clear the elephant is like a wall.' The five blind wise men go on their way, arguing about who is right and really knows what the elephant is like.

Anyone who's ever sat through a philosophy class will tell you the purpose of the story and its moral: the five blind wise men cannot agree on what the elephant is like because none of them has the full picture. Each has a piece of the puzzle, but none of them can see the totality of the elephant. This is then used as an analogy for God. No one religion can have the whole picture because we are all blind wise men who have only a part of it right. From the ideological basis that this story illustrates have come a multitude of pluralistic movements and systems of thought. Someone who has a 'Coexist' bumper sticker on their car or who describes themself as 'Generally spiritual, but not confined to any religion' probably derives their worldview from this basic concept. Though I happen to disagree with this idea of God, I won't argue this here. The problem comes when this is touted as a religious awakening that all religious people should agree with and get behind.

Let me ask you this: how do you know that the five blind wise men all have only a part of the puzzle? How do you know that the whole elephant isn't really like a rope, or a tree? The answer, of course, is because you know what the elephant is really like. It's because you can see. So someone who takes this analogy from the story of the five blind wise men and the elephant makes the following claim: Of all the many people on Earth who have searched for the truth, I alone can see. This is, of course, the central claim of anyone who believes they know what God is like. So the 'Coexist' spirituality is itself a religion, with its own view of God, though perhaps a view that's not definitively established. And because it is a separate religion in and of itself, it contradicts the other religions that it often claims to incorporate into its beliefs.

A monotheistic religion, like Christianity or Judaism or Islam, explicitly requires that its deity be the only true deity, and the only correct view of that deity. No one who truly believes in the Biblical God or Yahweh or Allah would ever decide that, just because everyone in their group believes something different, their true savior must be a part of all of those beliefs. The expectation that this will occur assumes both that all religions are essentially compatible with each other and that the amalgamation of these religions is a true cooperation of all of them rather than a separate religion itself. Both assumptions are false.

The resulting misconception of religion makes 'New Eden' somewhat hard to watch for a religious person like myself. Going the route of a combination of every religion is a clear attempt to not have to choose a side, but in the very attempt it chooses a side all its own. And making it so much about sides creates the friction between belief systems we see nowadays. Instead of pretending we all believe essentially the same thing, let's recognize where we disagree and be human beings together apart from that. Of course you should try to convince people if you truly believe you are right - it's an important question - but if you can't live with someone who makes a different choice about where they put their faith, you're in for a difficult life. This, along with the whole science vs. faith theme - a trope that needs to die - make all of the sequences on the planet fall flat and far short of where they could be.

The execution of this episode was perfectly fine, I just didn't like the writing choices they made on the planet. Jonathan Frakes continues to serve as a competent and proficient director, and all the acting was good. Sonequa Martin-Green seems to have settled into the role of Burnham much more this season, which I appreciate, and all our main characters continue to do well.

Strange New Worlds:

The planet was called Terralysium by its inhabitants. What we saw of it seemed like a fairly run-of-the-mill small country town.

New Life and New Civilizations:

The Red Angel continues to overshadow the season. It's also possible that the being who looks like May is actually some other creature. As far as civilizations go, the New Edeners fell flat.

Pensees:

-Spock is in a psych ward at Starbase 5. Huh.

-Pike has already redecorated his ready room so it has seats.

-I liked Stamets' fears that he'll see Culber in the network and won't be able to leave. Since Wilson Cruz is a regular this season, expect more of that.

-So, after all that pluralistic vague religion, mushrooms are the source of eternal life? Okay then.

-We heard a bit about WWIII, an event well-documented in Trek history.

-Lt. Owosekun grew up in a Luddite community, huh? I bet her parents weren't too thrilled with her decision to join the high-tech Starfleet.

-If the asteroid material weighs so much, how was Burnham able to hold a chunk of it last episode?

-It was great to see Saru acting as a mentor to Tilly. More, please; those are my two favorite characters!

-Stamets knew exactly what was going on on the bridge before he even entered. Hmmm...

-So, it's quite the coincidence that the Red Angel happened to grab a group of soldiers that contained at least one Christian, one Jew, one Muslim, one Buddhist, one Hindu, one Shintoist, and one Wiccan. Seems unlikely that you'd find that sort of cross-section of religions in any group of soldiers. Also, every one of them had a copy of their scripture on them at the time?

-I love Detmer's reaction to Tilly's plan. Actually, I just love Detmer in general.

-The one bit of religious theme/imagery I really appreciated was at the end when Jacob plugs the power source into the church and the lights turn on. They'd said that the reason pilgrimages had stopped was because the lights were off, and here science solved that problem. Science fueled faith, which is a cooperation of the two that you don't often see in television.

-I'm surprised they so easily used the spore drive. I thought after the end of last season it would take a whole lot for them to use it again.

Quotes:

Saru: "Before we can care for others, we must care for ourselves."

Tilly: "No, I think your orders are probably good. I need to go pass out now."

Pike: "Don't make me laugh." Burnham: "Fortunately for you, I was raised on Vulcan. We don't do funny." Pike: *laughs*

Burnham: "Sir, I learned the hard way what not following orders can lead to."

3 out of 6 fungi of eternal life.

CoramDeo got tired of sitting around and picking blackberries.

[forestwater87]

Underrated Characters Appreciation Weeks I’m too lazy to set up....

...but I’m proud of myself for having created. So if y’all wanna adopt any of these, you can go wild (please tag me though! I wanna see them!). Otherwise, shower me with praise.

(They’re very writing-heavy and often just a list of questions, so if you borrow anything feel free to tweak as suits your inspiration; the questions/suggestions are really just to get people thinking!)

I’m gonna put them below the cut so it doesn’t get too long, but you have to look forward to:

Jasper Appreciation Week

Cameron Campbell Appreciation Week

Gwen Appreciation Week

Bonquisha Appreciation Week

Dirty Kevin Appreciation Week

QM Appreciation Week

Other Secondary Characters Appreciation Week

Elevated Extras Appreciation Week

Nerris Appreciation Week

Space Kid Appreciation Week

Ered Appreciation Week

Harrison Appreciation Week

Dolph Appreciation Week

Nikki Appreciation Week

Preston Appreciation Week

Nurf Appreciation Week

Flower Scouts Appreciation Week

Woodscouts Appreciation Week

Jasper Appreciation Week

Who doesn’t love this good good ghost boy?

Day 1: 90s Kid -- Depict Jasper doing something radical.

Day 2: Jasper’s Camp -- Show off Jasper’s time as Camp Campbell’s golden boy.

Day 3: David -- It’s the only character he has a real canon relationship with . . .

Day 4: Life After Death -- What does he do with himself on that there island all day?

Day 5: All Grown Up -- We’ve all thought about it.

Day 6: Best Friend to Campers -- Pick a non-David character and develop his relationship with them.

Day 7: Spookily Ever After -- How does Jasper’s story end? On Spooky Island forever? Leaving this realm? Becoming the camp’s new mascot? Or was he somehow alive the whole time? Let your imagination go wild!

Cameron Campbell Appreciation Week

He’s sleazy. He’s morally bankrupt. He’s everyone’s favorite non-blonde-twink villain!

Day 1: Shady Business Dealings -- What’s Campbell up to when he’s not at camp? What does he want with Camp Campbell? Was that Nazi gold in his vault? Something’s fishy here, and I’m curious what everyone thinks is going on.

Day 2: Mysterious Past -- How on earth does someone like Campbell happen, anyway? This could be stuff about his childhood, how he got into . . . whatever illegal nonsense he’s up to, how he met QM, even how he got away with not getting in trouble for what happened to Jasper.

Day 3: Spooky Island -- Seriously, what on earth was going on in that house? Focus on the coolest/creepiest thing in there and go nuts.

Day 4: Fears & Other Random Headcanons -- Basically your Free Space day.

Day 5: Boss Man -- Focusing specifically on his relationships with the counselors.

Day 6: (Relation)Ships -- Yeah, yeah, gotta have it somewhere. This one is pretty open to interpretation, and should be considered platonic or not. Just depict the most interesting/fun relationship you think Campbell has. Is that cold black heart even capable of affection, anyway? (If you think he’s a foxy grandpa, go wild today.)

Day 7: What Happens Next? -- Is he gonna ever leave that cave? Team up with Daniel? Gone for good? What’s up ahead for the most notorious criminal who’s ever run a summer camp?

Gwen Appreciation Week

I mean, come on. You knew I was gonna do it.

Day 1: Background -- There are a lot of interesting headcanons about Gwen’s backstory, cultural heritage, etc. City girl or country bumpkin, Latina or African-American or rich or poor or college dropout or whatever, pick what you think is the most interesting headcanon for Gwen (something that’s related to her time before the show, that is) and go nuts.

Day 2: Favorite Camper -- Pick one of the kiddos and have them bond with their grumpiest caregiver.

Day 3: All Dolled Up -- She’s always in that counselor uniform. What does she look like outside of camp?

Day 4: Ships -- Obviously.

Day 5: That Tragic Plot Twist -- If you have an idea what makes Gwen such a grumpy disaster of panic and unemployment -- or just want to have fun making things unnecessarily dark for such a lighthearted cartoon which I know you do; I’ve read the fanfiction -- it’s time to unleash the angst.

Day 6: Anywhere Else -- AUs! AUs in all directions! Gwen doesn’t want to be at camp, so let’s plop her into another world where she might be happier . . . or might not be.

Day 7: A Campbell Camper? Whether you think Gwen was one of the kids who grew up at Camp Campbell or not, I think we’d all agree it’d be fun to imagine.

Bonquisha Appreciation Week

Because she deserves it and will probably kill you if you don’t appreciate her enough. 

Day 1: Those Wild Shirts -- Draw her in another fantastic outfit, or speculate where her amazing fashion sense (and vanity plates) came from. She has a filthy mouth and a whole lotta confidence, and the first day of this week is to celebrate that!

Day 2: Home Sweet Trailer -- Put her in her house on 69 Dirt Rd. and think about what kinds of things a girl like Bon would call home.

Day 3: Dog -- She has one. Tell us about it!

Day 4: Work/Hometown HCs -- What does someone even do in a town that small? Whether you think she’s a waitress alongside that cute pink-haired gal, or if she lives out of town and drove up to see David, ponder a little bit of what Bonquisha does in or around Sleepy Peak and show it to us.

Day 5: Bonvid -- How did that relationship with David crash and burn so hard, anyway? And what does it look like after that episode?

Day 6: Other Relationships -- Bonquisha vs. Tabii, or Gwenquisha, or bffs with Dirty Kevin, or any sort of connection you’d like to expand upon or forge between Bon-Bon and another character in the show. Hell, draw her and Jacob if you think that’s cute; it’s canon, after all.

Day 7: Muscles to Die For -- She’s big and beautiful and could absolutely murder everyone. Let’s just spend out last day appreciating how very much of a badass Bonquisha is.

Dirty Kevin Appreciation Week

The very goodest alternative Den Mother there ever was.

Day 1: Probably a Real Brat -- What was he like as a kid or teenager?

Day 2: Drugs & More Drugs -- Show us Kevin hard at work or tell us how he got into this crazy business.

Day 3: That Red Hoodie -- It’s kind of his trademark, and this is a day to appreciate it.

Day 4: From Sleepy Peak to Mexico -- Take your favorite part from Kevin’s debut appearance and do something fun with it.

Day 5: Den Mommy -- We’ve all thought about Dirty Kevin as a Flower Scout mother, and if you haven’t, you’re lying.

Day 6: Cleaned Up -- Get him a nice facial grooming and some good clothes, and you could have a handsome gentleman right there. What on earth would that look like? 

Day 7:  Not Such a Lone Wolf -- Whether you have an OTP or just love the idea of Kevin being friends with certain characters, show us who you think he has a soft spot for.

QM Appreciation Week

Listen, we’re all a little afraid of him, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve the spotlight for a bit. Even if we know he’ll probably do unspeakable things in and to that spotlight.

Day 1: God or Just Crazy? Whether it’s his apparent inability to age or how he can magically find little woodland paradises in the middle of the camp, there’s a lot of weird going on there. Celebrate the man who may or may not be a murderer and may or may not actually be a literal deity and all his strange, often supernatural weirdness.

Day 2: Hook -- Hey, how’d he lose that hand?

Day 3: Man vs. Squirrels -- He has a blood feud with many woodland creatures.

Day 4: QM Store -- There’s a lot of wacky stuff in there. What did you like best, or what do you think was hidden in the corners that we didn’t get to see?

Day 5: Bonding -- QM’s been there for a long (long long long) time, and he’s clearly known Campbell and David at least for years. Pick a character and explore what their relationship with the Quartermaster might be like.

Day 6: Tontine -- So what on earth was going on there?

Day 7: Camp Specter -- Regardless of how you approached Day 1, the fact remains that for whatever reason, the Quartermaster is at Camp Campbell for good. You can speculate why he’s there or just show us him hard at work doing . . . whatever he does, but today I just wanna see our beloved QM lurking around the camp!

Other Secondary Characters Appreciation Week

To all those characters who hang out in the background, making the campers’ shenanigans more fun.

Day 1: Daniel -- I don’t consider him in any way under-appreciated, but he’s a pretty spectacular way to kick off Season 2, and also this week.

Day 2: Platypus -- Mother of six five four three two one lunch and terror of the camp.

Day 3: Cute Waitress -- Y’all sure do love her. Show your love!

Day 4: Jermy Fartz -- Oh yeah. I went there.

Day 5: Darla & Gregg -- How can anyone who isn’t David be that excited about camping? Were they totally secretly dating? Where are they now, and how did they get there?

Day 6: The Denizens of Sleepy Peak -- Whether your heart belongs to Lester, Fred, the old geezers, or any of the others populating the nearby town, it’s time to show them some love.

Day 7: Parents -- How else would we end this week but with some family bonding?

Elevated Extras Appreciation Week

They’re not as memorable as the secondary characters. They don’t even have lines. But they’re ours and we love them.

Day 1: Former Campbell Campers -- we see in the picture on David’s bulletin board that there were a lot of kids who used to come to the camp. Show or tell us about your favorite!

Day 2: Camp Counselor of the Year Judges -- What was up with those guys? Were they even human?

Day 3: Other Camps -- Lake Lilac is home to Teen Church Camp, Pirate Camp, and who knows how many others? Let’s enjoy them!

Day 4: Larry -- Poor, poor undeserving Larry. RIP, my fuzzy man.

Day 5: Scotty -- Visual comedy camp? Seriously?

Day 6: Chucky -- What happened to him anyway?

Day 7: Your choice! Think I forgot the most important one? Time to correct that mistake! (Listen, if you’re mad I didn’t include Jen, consider this the Jen space.)

Nerris Appreciation Week

Devoted to the real(?) magic kid.

Day 1: The Cute -- Artists, draw how cute she is! Writers, maybe think about how the nickname came about! Or do something completely different! I don’t care!

Day 2: Magic War -- Explore her relationship with Harrison.

Day 3: Elf-kin -- What does that even look like? What does it mean?

Day 4: Bonding with Mere Mortals -- The camp is full of people and animals. Pick one and play with their relationship with Nerris.

Day 5: Dice -- What do they look like? How did she get them?

Day 6: Fandom -- A girl that excited about fantasy has to be quite the fan of a lot of things. Show us her interacting with her favorite stuff.

Day 7: Her Party -- Her relationship with her slightly-clueless mother and extremely-geeky dad.

Space Kid Appreciation Week

The most obvious appreciation week in the entire world.

Day 1: Astronaut -- Whether you want to show him all grown up or as a little kid, give us a glimpse of what Neil the real-life spaceman would be like.

Day 2: Aliens -- Another type of spaceman.

Day 3: Fishbowl -- A day to just appreciate his adorable, impractical costume.

Day 4: Punching Bag -- He’s been pushed around and disregarded by Max, Nurf, Max, the counselors, various animals, and Max. This is a day dedicated to his unfortunate luck and indomitable good spirit.

Day 5: Sick -- After that trip he took across the lake to the moon, and barely surviving the flu zombies, Space Kid could probably use some patching up.

Day 6: Science Guys -- The two Neils, bonding.

Day 7: SPACE!!! -- Give us Space Kid interacting with his favorite hobby ever.

Ered Appreciation Week

A very very cool week.

Day 1: Skater -- Even on the camp’s awful cardboard halfpipe, Ered’s still a budding Tony Hawk.

Day 2: Dye -- Dedicated to her awesome -- dare we say cool? -- hair.

Day 3: Camp Kool Kidz -- Celebrate her short-lived tenure as the head of Camp Campbell.

Day 4: Extreme -- What other extreme sports does she like to get up to?

Day 5: Queen Bee -- Her relationship with one or more of the other campers.

Day 6: Wipeout -- She gets injured a lot, doesn’t she?

Day 7: Cool Gay FBI Dads -- They’re the most wholesome family that regularly gets into gunfights.

Harrison Appreciation Week

Devoted to the . . . real(?) magic kid? (Didn’t we already do this?)

Day 1: Harry’s Son -- His outfit is pure Vegas showman, his VA and accent seem to suggest Israeli descent, and he may or may not be a literal wizard. His parents are terrified of him, but his mom says he’ll grow into his looks. Give some backstory to this lovable kid and his love of illusions.

Day 2: Actual, Real, Terrifying Magic -- This kid isn’t messing around. From summoning fireballs to making both objects and living things appear and disappear, he has some serious supernatural chops.

Day 3: Apprenticeship -- He and Nikki’s relationship consists of equal parts mutual admiration and mayhem. What do the two of them get up to behind the scenes?

Day 4: Brother -- Time for theories (and angst, of course angst) about how and why he “made his brother disappear.” 

Day 5: Any Resemblance to Bill Cipher is Pure Coincidence -- . . . probably. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to imagine that crossover!

Day 6: Frenemies -- Harrison has a habit of getting on people’s nerves. Pick at least one character and develop their relationship with the magic kid.

Day 7: Hufflepuff Pride -- Jordan Cwierz confirmed it! This last day is about celebrating all things yellow and black and (mostly) well-intentioned.

Dolph Appreciation Week

I know, he’s controversial. But he’s a kid with a passion for art and no understanding of history, and he could use some love as well.

Day 1: Painting -- Exactly what it says on the tin. While he is clearly skilled at lots of different types of art, this is the one he seems to like the most.

Day 2: Where’s the Yellow? He is the only one who doesn’t wear anything camp-themed. Give us a glimpse of what might’ve happened to that signature yellow clothing.

Day 3: Stage Manager -- Multiple times throughout the series Dolph is shown as Preston’s right-hand man by helping him design sets and acting in his plays; Preston even returns the favor by posing for a painting. Today is dedicated to the strange relationship of the theatre and art kids.

Day 4: Camp Counselor of the Year! Incredibly, Dolph appears to be quite the competent leader for his age, and his one day of running the camp went smoothly for the most part. Maybe he has the makings of a great counselor after all.

Day 5: The Elephant in the Room -- We all knew it was coming. Whether you find the Hitler jokes hilarious or offensive, everyone has an opinion about this particular character choice. Now’s the time to speculate what happens when he gets older, or completely retcon this aspect of his personality, or do whatever you’d like to with his . . . peculiarities.

Day 6: Father Issues -- According to the show’s wiki, “his father is an American lieutenant, who raised him on a German army base where he supposedly gained a love of art and soccer like many Europeans, much to his father's dismay.” Oof, that’s a lot to unpack. Time for backstory!

Day 7: Not Such a Bad Kid -- Despite his . . . controversial elements, Dolph as a character seems fairly sweet and oblivious, and is loved by a significant portion of the fanbase for these qualities. A free day of sorts, this is about accentuating the positive and appreciating the awkward, artistic weirdo underneath the jokes.

Nikki Appreciation Week

I was really close to not including this, because I don’t consider her an underrated character exactly, but Neil has a week and, let’s be honest, it’d be fun.

Day 1: Rough n’ Tumble -- Nikki isn’t afraid of fighting, and she’s no stranger to getting dirty or even hurt. Show the wild child doing something fun, reckless, and probably not very smart.

Day 2: Raised by Wolves -- Imagine an AU where she actually was as much a literal daughter of the forest as she wants to be.

Day 3: Just a Tiny Bit Traditional -- Despite being such a tomboy, there’s a part of Nikki that is deeply romantic and even maternal. Whether through a version of her that’s a bit older or a quiet moment at the camp, show us a little bit more of her gentle side.

Day 4: BFFs, Potential Step Siblings, Sidekicks -- A day to appreciate Neil and Nikki’s relationship, whatever you see that as.

Day 5: Flower Scout Nikki -- What was her time across the lake like?

Day 6: Parent Troubles -- She and her mom have a difficult relationship, and her dad doesn’t seem to be around that much. Show us Nikki and one or more of her guardians, and what that relationship might be like.

Day 7: Holidays! Her first and greatest love is Christmas, but there’s probably not a holiday she wouldn’t throw herself into. Give her a chance to celebrate any holiday you want!

Preston Appreciation Week

Get ready for some high-octane theatrics!

Day 1: A Flair for the Dramatic -- I don’t care what you do with this one, just give it lots of DRAMA!

Day 2: Speak Up -- Preston and his grandmother are really close, but his parents seem to be AWOL. Every Appreciation Week needs a backstory- and/or family-centric day, and that’s what this is.

Day 3: Cosplay -- What’s Preston’s favorite play? Let’s have him dress up like a character in that show.

Day 4: Stage Presence -- Give the boy a spotlight and an audience!

Day 5: The Bard -- He seems to love writing and directing even more than performing. Show him creating the next Hamilton (or more likely, Hamilton’s weird sequel involving pirates and aliens).

Day 6: Theater Nerd -- Either as a high school AU or just some time in the future, image Preston fully engrossed in that drama club life.

Day 7: Tribe -- Every weirdo has their group of friends. Either through OCs or other characters in Camp Camp, give or describe the people that make up the group in which he belongs.

Nurf Appreciation Week

Gaylord Nurfington, much like Shrek, is like an onion: smelly, surprisingly layered, and will probably make you cry.

Day 1: Big N Tough -- He’s built like a brick shithouse and mean as a bear, and that’s part of why we love him. Celebrate the fact that this guy can (and probably will) kick anyone’s ass.

Day 2: Theater Kid? -- We’ve seen Nurf involved in Preston’s productions more than once. Have some fun with his apparent interest in the performing arts.

Day 3: His Mother’s Boy -- Mother and son time!

Day 4: Surprising Depths -- Show Nurf doing something no one would ever have thought he would enjoy and/or be good at.

Day 5: A Thoughtful Bully . . . -- As the self-proclaimed most self-actualized character in the show, Nurf has proven to be remarkably cognizant of his own issues and respectful of others’. Give him a positive-ish interaction with another character.

Day 6: . . . Is Still a Bully -- But let’s be real: Nurf can be a total jerk. Let the kid be mean today!

Day 7: Knives -- Where the hell is he getting all of those, anyway? Regardless, show Nurf with his favorite toys.

Flower Scouts Appreciation Week

They’ll kill you with a smile and fantastic hair, then they’ll use their drug contacts to bury the bodies.

Day 1: Grace & Class -- No one is prettier and daintier than these angels -- and nobody knows it better than them.

Day 2: Nicer than Disneyland -- Whether you’d like to focus on their shady cookie dealings, the washed-up Miss Priss, or even invent your own Scout, give yourself a chance to explore a part of the Flower Scouts that hasn’t been given much screentime yet.

Day 3: Sasha -- A day dedicated to the quintessential Queen Bee. Manipulative, clever, and pretty damn selfish, Sasha is undoubtedly the leader of the Scouts, and you better respect it.

Day 4: Erin -- If your heart hasn’t been captured by this heterochromatic science nerd, this day is not for you. But for the rest of us, grab your pumpkin spice and head off to Fraaaaance to celebrate her!

Day 5: Tabii -- What she lacks in common sense she makes up for with being absolutely terrifying. Tabii-with-two-eyes-with-one-eye is an emotional rollercoaster, and she deserves a little bit of love today.

Day 6: Not-So Delicate Girls -- From drug empires to vats of acid, the Flower Scouts have proven that they can kick a whole lot of ass. Show off how tough these girly-girls can really be!

Day 7: Garden Mother Kevin -- Come on. You knew it was coming.

Woodscouts Appreciation Week

They might be the cartoon answer to what would happen if Stormtroopers were body-swapped with Boy Scouts, but that’s part of their charm.

Day 1: A Shadowy Organization -- No girls are allowed, they don’t appear to have a troop leader, their camp is impenetrable, there seem to be maybe 5 Scouts at most . . . Pick something cool about this creepy camp and play around with it.

Day 2: Bitter Rivalries -- Between risky bets against Camp Campbell and popcorn/cookie sales against the Flower Scouts, it seems like the WS have a problem with basically everyone. Depict one or more interaction between them and their most bitter enemies.

Day 3: A New Recruit -- How on earth does Jermy fit into the Woodscouts’ routine? How has he not accidentally (or not-so accidentally) been incapacitated yet?

Day 4: Fearless Leader -- He’s slimy in more ways than one, but he keeps Troop #818 together and has even managed to snag a few recruits. That alone is worth a day of appreciation.

Day 5: Strong & Silent -- For someone who doesn’t talk much, Petrol has a lot of good advice and personality. Let’s celebrate his bromance with Snake, his willingness to be sacrificed for the WS, or even just his stubborn refusal to try leg day even once.

Day 6: Call him Snake -- Prince Zuko Billy might not be the most dignified character on the show, but he’s certainly the most honorable and is deadly with a candy cane.

Day 7: Like Family -- I just want to see some Woodscouts bonding, with each other or a character of your choice.

[survivorreelsmagicwithin]

Episode 1A - “The Hufflepuffs are too nice even for me”-Ruthie

This is not the tribe I would have picked. I do not know anyone here which means I am at a disadvantage from the start. However, I am really connecting with Jules right now so maybe I can vibe with them enough to get an immediate ally. But I still need someone else. I am still figuring out my tribe so it will take me a hot minute to adjust. I hope I am not the first boot. I am going to pull my weight in this challenge and pull my first W ever!

I'm fucked, Jess knows how i play bc she literally just hosted me for Old west like a month ago. Whoops. Also joanna is in a competely different house than be so I'm crying. So far I do like my other housemates but we'll see how much of a slytherin they truly are as the days go by.

why. does. this. cast. have. to. be. full. of. icons. i'm really not that good at survivor?? hopefully i do okay??? just tryna be social and shit. (also Ravenclaw is the best)

I’m heading to bed and the boys are about to have a call... I hope an all boys alliance isn’t about to form I’m not here for that! So far I’ve just talked to Kevin and Lily one on one and so far I really like both of them! I’m going to get to know the others tomorrow. This cast is so iconic. I talked to Owen before I read that we weren’t supposed to and he and I are going to go to final two together if neither of us get voted out!

i am SO NERVOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DONT HAVE ANY INITIAL GOOD VIBES ABOUT ANYONE ON MY TRIBE!!!!!! NOT A PERSON!!!!!!!! AND I DONT WANT TO BE THAT ANNOYING BITCH ASKING THEM QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR LIVES!!!! AND SHIT!!!!!!!!! ugh i dont want to be first boot EITHER LIKE!!!!!!! ugh. uGH.

Me and Jules are literally kindred souls. I love her so much already and she is my ride or die for the rest of the season. Fuck these other bitches!

Why do I feel like I am the only one putting in effort for this challenge. At least this means I will be safe for a hot minute, right?

Okay so... Max and Landen still haven't accepted my friend request I noticed when I just tried to message them.  I'm still talking to Kevin and Lily A LOT!  Kevin is so easy to talk to and Lily is too and she and I have SO much in common!  I really like the idea of aligning with the two of them but I'm too nervous to suggest it just yet. 

 Also, my wand was special and I got a special idol hunt out of it!  I didn't find anything but still!  I'm glad that I at least got one word??  Not sure if our team will win a reward or not but it would be nice!

Honestly, my tribe seems to be particularly inactive and nonchalant. I am the most active person here, in my opinion. It is kind of frustrating, however, to be the only one trying in this challenge except for the very few and far between exceptions. Joshua even forgot about the challenge entirely! I hope to God that these people, if we have to go to tribal because we lose the immunity challenge, do not vote me out. Honestly, it would make no sense since I am already proving that I will be a challenge asset and very active. I would make the best ally out of everyone on my tribe! I would be allies with myself!

I LOVE YOU OWEN BUT PLEASE GO SUCK A DICK. You need to stop. Wth, go back to school so we can get some points. You too Kevin DX But we're in the lead so far *knock on wood* and hopefully stay that way. Love Jess and I hope I can take her to like f4 but I think I want to take Joanna and Owen to f3 if I even make it that far

This cast.... WHOA!!!! feel like yall had to put some of these ppl under imperius curse to get them back because I havent seen these faces in a WHILE!!!! Ruthie is a queen, first thing we messaged to each other was f2 <333 love her but dont trust that she wont turn on me at some point lol. Raffy my little island of shade bro, and Autumn <3 crossroads queen.... nice to see some of my children back here. I'm glad Jess is in the game because I like her a lot but I did just disappoint her in eve's challenge game so...we will see. but i love jess regardless :) ummmm... so happy I was sorted onto the brain tribe, then immediately proceeded to fuck up several times in the spelling challenge LOL

My tribe is nice though. I'm glad I'm with Dan - we have a weird history in games, but we've both been here for 7/8 years at this point and our ancient bones will prob work together. I already think him and Jules are going to be my alliance on this tribe <3 jules is AMAZING but I can tell they (? is this correct pronouns i dont remember and it wasnt in the posts) are a social legend and are going to be on EVERYONE's good side. love them though already, we have a lot in common and it was easier to talk to them + also get into a bit of game chat.

Joanna and Miguel....not so much. I like them both fine, but they don't know how to converse. I asked them all a shit ton of questions and they didn't ask a SINGLE thing back???? Like...okay work! I can't do it all for you, give me somethin!!!! I do like them both, it's just....they don't give a shit about me! LOL

Miguel is also an awkward one because I played with him LEGIT five years ago or more, in a game where we were on opposite sides. I'd rather work with him based on that connection than not but...apparently he already told Jules that we were against each other before??? and he's barely spoken to me so whatever. I like him, he's cute and he's funny, but.... if he's telling people more about me than he's willing to even get out of me myself, it's a no from me :)

WOOHOOOO WE WON REWARD!! I DIDN'T REALLY HELP (i tried but with no success) BUT I'M STILL REALLY HAPPY ABOUT IT! THANK GOD FOR OWEN

Well it’s day 2, we just lost reward but Immunity is still up for grabs!! Hopefully it’s something we can excell it but 👀 a bitch don’t have many skills so we gon have to see on that one! Other than that we got to know our tribe mates, I have a really good tribe! First off there is Ruthie who I played an old season of TS with and I worked with her BUT also voted her out :c so maybe we can work together and look past that? She was a really good ally of mine but it didn’t work out. I’ve loved talking to her again tho <3 then there is Lily! A new person to me but I absolutely adore her I love her energy she’s so talkative our conversations have been really good! If I had it my way I would work with her in this game, but I don’t want to force anything so I’m not gonna bring that up to her this early. Then there is landen another familiar face to me, I played also a TS season with him, and we had a rocky relationship in that game, not really do in part to either of us just how the cards fell. I did NOT vote him out but we didn’t end our game relationship on the best terms. He seems the least eager to want to talk to me which is not a good sign bc I remember him being so outgoing in 2020 and that energy not being matched here worries me. He also addressed me as “mr. 2020 winner” in our first talk so <3 maybe he might target me <3 thays so fun <3 lastly there is MAX! Max is fun, kinda loud but in a good way, he wasn’t all that helpful in the challenge for reward (him nor landen were all that active) and we had a good first conversation and then it’s seemingly gone downhill? I still have to see if our momentum picks back up before I decide what my plans with him are, i wouldn’t mind working with him if possible but he is also fairly close to landen (apparent after an over 2 hour long call last night.. IN THE TRIBE CHAT) so if landen has a distaste for me he’ll definitely spread that to max if he has the choice, so I gotta tread carefully but only time will tell how I end up fairing on this tribe :o WISH ME LUCK 

It is second day of school and I already hate everyone. It seems that I actually went back to Junior high where everyone's playing PENIS on the great hall. I forgot how it felt to play with teenagers and I'm not here for it. I think I'll be a true ravenclaw and isolate myself reading a book or learning new spells cause I don't have many interests in common with these people. On a side note I'm really happy to be a Ravenclaw, and I actually like our team, I think we are strong and I hope I'm not in danger if we do lose, I'll try to work on my foreigner charm and start faking even more my mexican accent if that's what I need to do in order to stay, Jules is amazing, loved her and I hope we can work well together. Also I love the whole castle idol hunt idea , so... charming.

First things first... this cast is... BONKERS. I didn't expect it to be as stacked as it is..

I'm scared.

I hate it here.

There are sooo many weird relationships here which is kind of a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing about it is... I THINK that means some people got beef and I can maybe piggy back off of some of these relationships... IDK I'm not trying to think too deep into anything right now.

BUT... y'all put me on a tribe with someone who just single handily put me out of a game TWO FUCKING DAYS AGO and I'd like to complain to your MANAGERS @hosts.

In all seriousness I'm going to try and have fun in this game and not take it entirely tooo seriously.

ALSO.. my fucking wand gave me the option for a "quest" yesterday but it'd have to remove me from the tribe chat... so obviously... I gave the quest to someone else. Aka: Jacob.. who I knew would be a selfish bitch and take the quest. I also knew the likelihood of him telling me about what actually happened were high and I'd virtually get no weird looks my way because I WASN'T the one who was removed from the tribe chat. This basically ensured that I got to know what the quest was, its potential contents, and paint a target on someone else rather than myself in case there was virtually nothing to base the first couple of votes on... right?

I think I'm onto something with the idol guesses. There's weird storylines in them and I THINK if I can somehow get to the green house and find the other ingredients that were in Snape's writing I'll be onto something.

Also me and Jacob snapped in that Reward challenge and these HEATHENS should thank us for single-handily giving them a reward. Nick randomly slept all god damn day.. which really annoyed me. We have a reward and you are gonna SLEEP ALL DAY? SIR? I get real life happens but at least hide the fact you sleeping sis.

My tribe is literally probably the LAST TRIBE I wanted to end up on because well.. 1. Nick is shady and social. He might take the fact that I was loyal to people in the other game into account. I've tried the whole "I start off each game fresh and no hard feelings" spell but will he accept it? Tune in folks. I also technically can't explain my actions in the game to him because he is currently still in it so... PARTY!

2. Jacob is amazing and I love him. We've actually played several games together and weirdly always end up super loyal to people. He's a crackhead though so I'm gonna have to be a BIT cautious with him. I sipped dumb bitch juice and told him about Snape's writing because I want to show him some sort of token of loyalty.

3. Vi is a crackhead. I know this because I've hosted her. Kind of wanna fuck around and give her first boot from the tribe because I DO NOT TRUST HER. When she gets bored, she fucks things up, she lies for fun, and well... no.

4. Jessie seems really sweet so far. We haven't really spoken much which kind of sucks but we will get there!? I think?

I think some may have found something, because I just idol searched and I the exact same path I did yesterday, and yesterday there were three different choices and today there were only two. The only reason I could think of why one of the ending options were removed is that something was there and something was found...

12 minutes later

turns out it was a mistake, never mind

Okay it is challenge time and Max is around I think and Lily is finishing a class but KEVIN AND LANDEN ARE LATE, they are delinquents I expect more from Hufflepuffs than this tardiness.

I'm definitely kidding but... may not be able to be around for the entire challenge if they don't hurry the heck up.  Part of me wants to start but I don't want this to be on me if we don't do well.  OH Kevin just messaged me so at least another tribe member is on... WHY is he not messaging the tribe chat?? OH Lily is on now so I should stop writing and get to business...  WISH us cute little badgers luck!

I'm definitely kidding but... may not be able to be around for the entire challenge if they don't hurry the heck up.  Part of me wants to start but I don't want this to be on me if we don't do well.  OH Kevin just messaged me so at least another tribe member is on... WHY is he not messaging the tribe chat?? OH Lily is on now so I should stop writing and get to business...  WISH us cute little badgers luck!

20 minutes later

been doing this challenge for over an hour, i feel defeated

If this wasn't a team work thing I would be done by now these people are slowing me down. x_x.  DLSJFSLDFJ I shouldn't complain. They all have good ideas but it takes FOREVER to agree on something.  Also I do feel like an asset to the hufflepuff tribe because when I was eating lunch with my family Lily messaged me and told me I was the glue holding the tribe together and she wished I was back and that made me feel VERY good about my place on the tribe!

But seriously I'm just ready for the challenge to be over so low key I hope that Max stops responding for awhile again so I can just say random shit until we finish the dang thing LSDJFLSJDF.

The Hufflepuffs are too nice even for me.

That challenge went terribly. In all honesty, I would not blame my tribe for wanting to take me out because I took up the leadership role. But it was not like anyone else was taking the reigns so I needed to do something. I just hope they can see the merits of keeping me in this game. I really don't want to be first boot. I think we're going to have to go to tribal because we we took so long. God this is going to be so frustrating.

This challenge is NEVER going to end I'm trying to be patient but Max always interjects with something and it SLOWS EVERYTHING DOWN FOR TEN MINUTES.  OR MORE. I just have this window open to complain, lol, I won't send this for awhile. LOL Max is killing me. All the boys are exhausting I don't think they have been paying any attention to the notes I have been making, if we go to tribal council Lily and I SHOULD be safe.

OKAY it was fun that everyone just joined in in the end but I'm so glad that it is over and I hope that we won this thing and are safe!

me: im gonna be sneaky and not tell my alliance ALL the info i have also me: tells them info i couldnt possibly know without telling them ALL the info i have anyways.

https://youtu.be/qhfHo_Ns1xQ

Living my dream as a huff puff, no big deal. So far I’m really enjoying being on my tribe. We all communicate well and have positive attitudes about things. We also had so much fun at the immunity challenge but I can tell we are all stressed about the results. I’m really impressed by everyone this season being involved and I could tell people were on their A game during the reward challenge. I would really hate to see us as the bottom tribe having to go to tribal. I honestly don’t want to see any of these people go but I certainly don’t want to be first boot. I’m really proud of our tribe and I would hate to have a loss right now put a crack in the friendships we have been building.

[thexgrayxlady]

Shepard Traitor Soldier Spy - Chapter 3

Notes: So apparently Tumblr doesn’t show links in the tags. Whatever. Also this hellsite fucks with my formatting.  I'm still not sure if I'm going to stick to a schedule for this. I'm trying for weekly updates, but we'll see. My work schedule is weird. Also I really enjoy writing Shepard and Garrus interacting. This chapter's title is from Owl City's Bombshell Blonde.

Summary:  If there was one thing Mira Shepard hated more than getting into getting into a fight, it was getting into a fair fight.

Live to Die another Day

Lawson told her she should go after the scientist first. It was a pitifully small act of rebellion, likely to backfire, and incredibly petty, but she instead opted to go after Archangel. She looked Lawson dead in the eye as the woman gave her what was likely a very well planned out speech, designed specifically with her psych profile in mind, in order to get her to go along with Doctor's Orders.

She got a sort of perverse pleasure out of responding with a simple, "No."

"If you're not going to listen to me, at least take me with you on this assignment," Lawson said. "You're letting your preconceived notions about Cerberus cloud your judgement."

"Doctor Lawson, this is nothing personal. If it were, I'd bring Kisumi," she said, examining her armor. "The squad needs to pass for mercenaries. Zaeed is a mercenary and Lieutenant Taylor did his time with the Corsairs. Nothing in your file indicates that you are more qualified for the job than either of them."

"Commander, after the stunt you pulled on the citadel you obviously need to have someone who's more experienced in…"

"I understand the difficult position I put you in with your employer by leaving my squadmates on the Citadel," she said, setting down the shoulder piece and checking her helmet's air filters. If she had to die again, it wouldn't be choking. "However, should this mission go wrong, and you, Taylor, and I are on it, it will be even more difficult for whoever's left to explain how the Illusive Man's hand picked team was killed."

"Do you really think I'd be so incompetent as to let the two of you get killed?"

"No, but anybody can get a lucky shot and there has to be a backup plan." If she had her way, she had at least four going into even a basic operation. "And if something happens to you then who runs the Lazarus cell?"

Then she stopped checking her gear and looked at Lawson for a split second, her expression a calculated blank. Just long enough for Lawson to see the gears turning in her head. Just for long enough for Lawson to never feel safe on an away team with her again.

Lawson knew exactly how easy it would be for her. She had a cloak and a sniper rifle. When the mercs moved on Archangel, things could get messy. All Lawson would have to do would be to take her eyes off of her for a second and it was very difficult to track a ghost when you had bullets coming at you from all sides.

"What do you think Lawson," she said, holding up her chest piece. "I would be correct in assuming I could requisition funds for something that doesn't scream, "I'm a Marine! Shoot Me!" wouldn't I?"

X~*~X~*~X~*~X~*~X

"Bet mine's bigger," she said, sliding her pistol across the table. "Sayyida al Hurra, Reds. This is my associate Jacob Taylor and I trust you know Zaeed Massani." There was no point in pretending he was anything else.

"I thought the Reds got picked up by C-Sec a couple years ago," the man said, taking her gun and inspecting it.

"It's a lot easier to move Sand onto the Citadel if they think you're all either dead or in lockup," she said, a cocky smirk spreading across her face. Finch was like Anderson. He never saw the knife until she pulled it out of his back.

"You're a long way from Citadel space Sayyida," he said, checking her SMG and sniper rifle as she passed them over. "What are you doing on Omega?"

"With old guard gone, you could say we're finally looking to expand our avenues of interest," she said. "A friend," she gestured to Zaeed, "told me Blue Suns were looking to subcontract. Consider this our job interview."

"If you can handle it," he said. "Shuttle's by the space port. We'll talk payment after the job's done."

"I look forward to doing business with you," she said, taking her weapons back and holstering them.

Some kid bumped her on her way out. She took one look at him, skinny, too big ears, a pistol with kickback he probably couldn't handle, and told herself that she took the gun and crushed it like a cheap beer can so that she had to fight one less merc to get to Archangel.

X~*~X~*~X~*~X~*~X

If there was one thing Mira Shepard hated more than getting into getting into a fight, it was getting into a fair fight. Fortunately, this was a loosely allied group of mercenary factions. They trusted each other about as well as she could handle an assault rifle and with the right words, they'd do half her work for her.

This would work better if she had more time. She could be more subtle if she had more time. As it was, she was using a sledgehammer to do the work of a surgical scalpel. If she had at least a week behind enemy lines, she could have half of them dead before they hit the bridge and the other half spooking at their own shadows. As much as she would have liked a week, she could make do with a few hours and Archangel already had the leadership jumpy.

Eclipse would be first across the bridge. She quietly let slip to Taylor as they were walking through their camp that Blue Sun must value them about as much as they did the freelancers, but she was grateful she wasn't in between Blood Pact and their pay day.

Then it would be Blood Pact. Again, Eclipse would be first across the bridge. They'd get credit for taking down Archangel and the Blue Suns would get credit for organizing the whole thing. As one of the krogan was walking by, she whispered to Zaeed that she thought that the Blue Suns were afraid of the Blood Pact getting to Archangel and just loudly enough for the Krogan to hear, he agreed.

Blue Suns would be the hardest to crack. They ran more like a corporation than a mercenary group. Before joining up, she sat in a hole in the wall noodle shop and studied what little data on them she could get past Cerberus censors and questioned Zaeed about what he remembered from his time with them. He'd been cagey and while she'd been able to remove the worst of the monitoring software from her Omni-tool, the blocks were strong as ever. She would have to make do with sabotaging their hardware.

Still, it wasn't a waste of time. She wasn't going to eat anything provided to her by Cerberus. It would be all too easy for them to slip something into food to make her compliant. Cheap noodles wouldn't be her first choice of first meal, but she wasn't in a position to be picky.

She was surprised they left the YMIR units as unsecured as they did, but they had no reason to suspect anybody would hack the mechs and she wasn't about to look a gift mech in the charge port. She set Jacob and Zaeed to watch the door while she cloaked and went to work.

The YMIR units had a notorious short circuit in their head. One lucky shot would take out not only the mech, but any surrounding combatants. She could rewire it to blow as soon as it booted up, but there was no fun in that. Reprogramming the friend-or-foe targeting would be more difficult, but ultimately more rewarding.

If it started firing on its own masters, it would deepen the rift between the factions. Any survivors would wonder why it turned on them, they could continue with their mission, but they could also bolt or go out for revenge. Any outcome would be acceptable. Moreso if they chose to go after the other mercs, but any who remained after the mech was done with them would be tired and worn down, easier to pick off.

Plus, hacking the mech's targeting systems would make her feel better about not being able to hack into Cerberus' databases.

She finished the hack and on her way out of the room, rifled through the crates for good measure. Taylor gave her a look, but she ignored it. If he wanted to judge her for picking up the odd loose credit chit or datapad, she could remind him that he was part of a terrorist organization.

Then there was the gunship. If that got off the ground, it could be a bit of a problem. She did not like the odds of the three of them plus a vigilante who may not want to join them versus a gunship, plus whatever mercs were left over.

She would have to wait for the other freelancers to clear out, then there was only Sargent Cathka. If she could get herself alone with that ship for a few minutes, she could do some truly beautiful work. She didn't have time to ground it, but she could jam the guns, sabotage the cooling system, overload the steering, disable the shield generators, all manner of chaos.

She checked in with the other freelancers and slipped under the rail to talk to Cathka. He asked why she wasn't with the other freelancers, she told him she wanted to get as much information on their situation as possible. She asked her questions, mostly about the bridge and what he thought about Archangel's capabilities. He answered, then they got the signal to move on Archangel's position. The rest of the freelancers made for the bridge.

She hung back and found that in a pinch, an electric welder made an excellent stun gun.

She asked Jacob to drag Cathka behind some crates while she figured out what to do with the gunship. It was only a matter of time until they found his unconscious body and she intended to be as far away as possible when that happened.

Cathka left his screwdrivers within easy reach of the console. Having something solid in her hands as she worked felt calming. She liked hardware, didn't get enough chances to work on it. This kind of work, sabotage and infiltration was far more in line with her skillset than a straight up firefight.

She started pulling wires loose, but leaving them just enough in their sockets so that it looked like nothing happened. She smiled because she was six years out and she still hadn't lost her touch.

She allowed herself a moment to relish the warmth spreading through her chest as she shorted the battery and the thrill of evading detection. She never thought she'd thank Cerberus for giving her a chance to truly shine again, but the work felt good. It felt like home.

She wanted to take her time with this, give the task the care and attention it deserved, but she would have to settle for one quick, yet difficult to detect solution. Decoupling the shield generator would be the best she could do in two minutes.

She could only hope that the pilot saw the unconscious Sargent and thought better of getting in the gunship.

X~*~X~*~X~*~X~*~X

"Taylor, Massani, hang back," she said, taking cover behind a crate.

She watched the other freelancers cross over the bridge, watched too many fall to sniper fire. Archangel was just as good as the mercs made him out to be. Between the Reds, Alliance Intelligence, and Special Forces, she'd been shot at by many people. Very few could match the speed and accuracy with which he placed each shot. Even if he was exhausted and making mistakes, she had to admire his skill.

She thought better of having Zaeed and Jacob cross the bridge with her. She could cloak. They couldn't. She could get to Archangel without being mistaken for one of the mercenaries coming to kill them.

She cloaked and peered through her scope. One of the bomb techs made it through to the building. She was working on something in front of a couch. The mercenaries were clustered. If she could shoot it, she could take out the tech and a good number of the freelancers. It would blow her cover, but maybe it would be better to do that here than in the middle of a bunch of pissed off freelancers.

"Alright," she said, ducking back down and turning to her squad. "Both of you stay here and give me cover. I'm going to clear a path. Follow on my order."

She made sure her rifle was loaded, then took the shot. As the explosion ripped through the building, she jumped the crate and rushed the gap. She took cover behind a pillar and checked her SMG before getting a look at the room.

There were two freelancers left downstairs, one staggering to get their bearings, and she didn't know how many on the second floor. The concrete prevented the fire from overtaking the building, yet the shouldering couch provided enough smoke to give her some cover. She leaned out to get a better angle on the more oriented mercenary.

Pain ripped through her shoulder and she dropped to her knees.

"Secure the O2 line with one hand and firmly hold it in place, while with the other, turn the locking mechanism…"

She shook her head and took a moment to breathe, remind herself that she could. She didn't have a dislocated shoulder and she didn't have an airline to secure with one hand. She didn't have time for this. Archangel hadn't finished the job, but that didn't mean that the freelancers couldn't.

As she scrambled back to her feet, one of the freelancers glowed bright blue before being pulled onto the bridge. Behind her there was a crack of sniper fire, whether it was Zaeed or Archangel she didn't know.

"Commander?" Jacob said. "You still there?"

She still didn't trust or like Jacob, but she knew where she stood with him and unlike Lawson, he had no delusions about the darker side of Cerberus. He was an honest man, but not a true believer. She wouldn't trust him at her back outside of a firefight, but so long as he was ostensibly on her side, she could work with him.

"Not my first time getting shot," she said. The Cerberus armor she'd borrowed held up remarkably well. "Nor will it likely be the last."

She made short work of the last freelancer in the room, then signaled for her squad to follow up the stairs. As she finished hacking her way through a blood-spattered door, as a point of professional pride, she was almost tempted to double tap the mercenary responsible for bungling the lock so badly she had to work around not only Archangel's safeguards, but his own crappy safecracking code.

"Archangel?" she said, entering the room, her squadmates close behind.

The Turian turned to her and settled onto a crate. His posture was a failed attempt at confidence, what was supposed to be a casual lean looked more like a tired slump, and his hands shook as he began to remove his helmet.

Somehow, she was not surprised to see the face under the helmet, nor the trouble that he had gotten himself into.

"Garrus?" she said, dropping her SMG to her side. She wouldn't thank Lawson for stopping her from looking him up on the Citadel, but she was glad she hadn't wasted her time and a lot of worrying.

"Shepard," the Turian said. His voice wavered. Whether it was exhaustion, blood loss, or shock at seeing her she couldn't say. "I thought you were dead."

"I got better," she replied, breaking out in a rare grin. "No thanks to you by the way."

"Concussive rounds only, I had to make it look good," he replied. "Didn't want the mercs to get suspicious."

"If you say so," she said. "Garrus, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied, wincing as he shifted on the crate.

"I can explain later," she said, setting up her gear near the balcony. "Right now, you've got all the major mercenary factions on Omega waiting on the other side of that bridge for you, so unless you've got another way out, we're the cavalry."

"I'm stuck up here," he replied. "Still, it's good to see a friendly face."

"I'd say it's about time for you and me both," she said, holding out her arm to help him off the crate. "Getting in here was easy, getting out's going to be another story."

"The bridge's worked so far, these morons have nowhere to hide, forcing them to group up and walk in a line, but it works both ways. If we try to leave…"

"Then we're the morons with nowhere to hide from dozens of assault rifles," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "So we're going to have to shoot our way through three of the most powerful mercenary factions on Omega to get out. Fantastic." She'd prepared for this. It didn't mean she had to like it.

"It'll be just like old times Shepard," he said, setting the rifle on the railing.

"You want to know how many times I almost died in the old times?" she said.

"Hey now, you got better," he replied. His laugh sounded more like a cough. "Let's get a look at what these guys are up to…" He put his eye to the scope. "Looks like they know their infiltration team failed. They're gearing up for round two."

He handed her the rifle so she could look. Eclipse mechs walked through the gates. The LOKI model shared a key design flaw with the YMIR mechs and Eclipse hadn't thought to protect the heads.

"We've got company," she said, tossing Garrus his rifle. "Massani, set up on the far end of the balcony. Taylor, go with him. Anything that gets to the building, pull it back. If I need you to, both of you be ready to fall back to the steps."

She would stay with Garrus. He looked unsteady and she knew what days of being trapped with no sleep and little food and water would do to a person.

"I'm impressed Garrus," she said, settling into position next to him. "Every single merc in Omega and they're all here to see you."

"It wasn't easy Shepard," he replied, reloading. "I really had to work on it."

As much as she would have liked to keep up the banter, there was work to be done. Zaeed's swearing told her that the enemy had deployed rocket launchers. They would have to work quickly, take them out first.

Then a tell-tale noise told her that Eclipse was deploying the YMIR unit and she suppressed a grin. It certainly wasn't her best work, but from the shouting below she could tell that she'd done at least a satisfactory job.

"Shepard, you look way too proud of yourself," Garrus said, leaning against the wall to catch his breath. "What did you do?"

"A good job," she said, grinning as she reloaded.

Then from the other side of the bridge came a surprisingly clear shout of, "Fuck this! You're not paying me enough!"

"A very good job," she added.

X~*~X~*~X~*~X~*~X

The floor around his head was blue and her heart was in her throat, but she had to keep going. She didn't think this through. She didn't prepare enough. She let herself get cocky and let herself think that just damaging the gunships's shields would be enough. She had the opportunity, she could have done more.

"Garrus," she said, dropping to her knees beside him and prepping the little medi-gel she had left. He moaned, she didn't know if she should take that as a good sign. "Come on Garrus. I didn't come all the way here just for you to die on me."

She had basic first aid training and Kaidan had walked her through more complicated procedures. As she looked at Garrus, she knew that his injuries went far beyond her meager skillset, but she couldn't help him if she panicked.

"Jacob," she said, willing her hands steady as she gently tore the medigel pack open. She kept her voice level, emotionless. "Radio the ship. Tell Dr. Chakwas to get the medbay prepped, dextro materials only, Turian fluids, and that if Lawson gets within twenty yards of this patient, she can take a walk into the airlock with a faulty helmet."

[nothisis-ridiculous]

Duplicity

An AU where Kaidan joins Cerberus for the events of ME2.

Chapter 6: Horizon: Part Two    

                                                       ~~~              

The six stationed a few clicks away from the settlement watched helplessly as the Collector ship touchdown within the confines of Horizon. The black swarms covered the buildings and walls, enveloping the settlement with ease. The resistance to the attack was short lived, as the swarms swallowed everything.

The AA guns sat silent, either offline or in a bad repair as it did nothing against the Collector ship landing within the settlement.

Mordin's arms went in every direction, pouring over his thoughts aloud, "No, we can't go in yet. Swarms in mass will be able to detect our presence even with technology. Couldn't predict the numbers. Must modify the solution to swarms later. Fascinating."

Kaidan and Garrus seemed the most upset over the Salarian's fascination with the entire event. A fact that just built off their reflex to rush into the settlement as the swarms had just begun to burst from the ship just before it touched down. Mordin had kept them from rushing in, and they knew he was right. Getting caught themselves was just another way to make the situation worse, and not better. The scientist's rambling over the fact just didn't make it better.

"Skies have cleared. We should go."

The Krogan clapped his hands together, and Jack adorned a sideways smile. Zaeed swept up the gun he laid against the shuttle.

"Team not cool enough to be picked by Shepard!" Grunt called loudly.

The others looked at him coldly, each believing he spoke for himself. Well, all but Kaidan. He was team perpetually in the doghouse.

The six were soon off for the settlement of Horizon. They decided for the time being staying together was the smarter move. Communications still being out meant that getting stranded without help would be death for either of the groups. And by the number of Collectors pouring from the ship, they would need all the firepower that they could muster. So working as a unit of six was the call of the day. They knew Shepard was on the opposite side of the settlement and luckily at the furthest point away from the Collector's vessel. So that was the priority, that would take fighting through Collector ranks before they could get to the rest of their team and Commander.

Getting through the first exit gate was easy, as only a small band of Collectors bothered to watch the gate, but after that, the entire force was on high alert. Bringing down waves of enemies as the squad worked through the most direct route to the other side of the base. Grunt charged in ahead of the group, pulling the enemies attention. Jack and Kaidan pulled many of the enemies into the fire of Garrus and Zaeed, while Mordin worked on securing a safer roundabout through many of the locked doors along their route.

At first, there were no bodies left, just marks in the ground where something heavy had been drug into a casket-like shape. The settlers were also gone. As they dug themselves deeper into Horizon, Kaidan realized with horror the story that was unfolding. With a group of Collector's deterred from their duties, he saw the first of the colonists placed into the pods. Frozen bodies with the same frightened expressions from the moment of attack. They weren't yet dead but being collected- for what Kaidan couldn't imagine.

Blazing their way through the base, the colonists started to appear in the frozen states that occurred at the time of the attack: all posed in various poses of defense and fleeing. Some stooped over to help another, and others pushing through others to get away from the invading swarms. While some pointed guns at the air, inevitably trying to thin out the incoming flock. It was frightening but much less disappointing than the mere marks on the grounds to signify a life that had been taken by the Collector army.

The group piled into a nearby apartment to reassess and rest for a short while. One without any frozen colonist to look at them. Mordin volunteered to remain outside, most for the excuse to poke at the frozen beings. Kaidan leaned over the lip of the window, debating if he should get after the Salarian for being so disrespectful, but Garrus arriving beside him shook that notion away.

"Mordin must be having a blast," the Turian said wryly.

Kaidan ignored the remark, rather pent up in his own thoughts. Did Shepard get drug out alive? What if they were too late? Could this still be finished without her? Or was this the beginning of the end? It couldn't be this easy, but it easily could be as well. Just because Mary was a bright flare of energy did not mean it had to end that way. Reapers or not, she could be gone. The galaxy darker because of it.

"Look, don't just think the worse," Garrus sighed heavily, "Shepard is most resourceful when faced with impossible odds."

Kaidan was forced to look at the bird-like creature, issuing a dead stare. Why did Garrus think he needed to console him at every turn? The damned bird- that was cruel- skated around the events that made Kaidan a headline. His fretting from the sidelines drove an irritable Kaidan to a breaking point.

"No offense, but is there something you want to say?" words still coming without complete venom, "or are you just chatting?"

Garrus's mandibles rattled, "Things have been... tense. Losing Shepard would be hard on you, me and all these 'lunatics' we have adopted, especially this early in the mission."

"It would make bring her back useless."

"All I mean by it is that, well," Garrus cleared his throat, "if you need to talk, uh, I am a friend."

Kaidan gave him half a grin.

"Or I can get you drunk enough to forget all about this, be your wingman," Garrus included with a chuckle, "find some pleasant females to... dance with."

Now the biotic gave a full eye roll, "We better get moving before this gets awkward."

Garrus shrugged and appeared to be grinning, for what the alien could manage,"Or spend time in a cafe on the banks of Arno."

The others were quickly behind them, ready to get moving again. The action on their half waned considerably, as they moved further away from the vessel. More frozen bodies in place, waiting to be taken by the hostile forces. The random pocket of Collectors interrupted them occasionally, but without the numbers of the forces they had previously encountered.

But soon, with the changing frequency of battle came the more Alliance forces that were peppered in with the colonists of Horizon. Before long, the entire complex around them was swarmed with soldiers in blue uniforms many more of them mobilizing against the swarms to little avail.

It was the side Mary would have encountered first, and she would likely be among the military men if his assumptions were correct. The largest building was the first he decided to enter, and the first familiar faces crossed his path. Miranda froze with a hand outstretched, attempting to conjuring her biotic powers to shield herself a second too late from the seeker swarms, and Jacob behind her still shackled around one wrist. The man helping him out of bondage frozen in action.

"Too bad I don't have a sharpie," Jack said with a wide grin, a kid in a candy shop, "or that her frozen Cheerleader ass is too pathetic to kick when I can't hear her scream."

Her words changed as Kaidan gave her a sharp look, "Shepard must be close." Trying to dismiss Jack before she decided to follow through with her plan. Mary would appreciate his efforts to keep the peace.

Thankfully, Jack decided that it was not worth the time to do something to the frozen Miranda, and the team continued with their investigation. It didn't take long to find Mary, or at least her hand cradling the pistol as she fired from her advantage point above the compound.

Rather than finding just Mary, the human councilor, Anderson was frozen to her left. Ducking behind the counter to retrieve a pistol that had only made it into his hands. The thing was still locked, and unable to fire. Mary's, on the other hand, had fired a few rounds, a stray heat sink clip still left in wait on the floor beside her foot. Face contorted in careful rage, bright scars illuminating her jaw in a harsh light. Not as terrible and scary as they had been when she first woke, but not yet faded.

"Heh," Grunt giggled a second time as he prodded the paralyzed Anderson.

Kaidan's gaze was torn from the Commander, watching the Krogan hesitate then poke the man again with another giggle.

"That's enough-"

The Krogan looked to pout, "Jealous you don't dare poke Shepard?"

The biotic's eyes rolled.

"Wouldn't suggest that. Stasis is likely only stopping movement; I theorize they are still aware. I will have to ask Shepard once she gets out."

"I can scrape together a tat gun if anyone is ballsy enough," Jack mused aloud, earning a soft chuckle from Zaeed.

"I sat we get out of here; we have Shepard. Why chance the Collector's taking our sorry asses as well," Zaeed broke his silence, "this whole thing went to hell." Jack seemed to agree, and Mordin placed his hand against his jaw.

Kaidan's eyes had long returned to Mary, worrying about the stasis she was set under. Could someone just overcome the stasis? What if it was meant to be permanent? Much worse if she was aware. This stillness would be killing her; he never knew her to be so calm. Being trapped in such a way had her likely screaming from inside her prison. Was it terrible to be amused with the picture?

Her blue eyes snapped to attention, sending Kaidan back a step. It was only a corner of her iris; the smallest movement. But he knew what it meant.

"Shepard wouldn't stand the colonists fending for themselves," Kaidan counseled gently.

"We could always bring Shepard and the others to safety and then return," Garrus offered.

Mordin interrupted, "No. The longer we remain the higher chance that the Seeker Swarms will return. We must make a choice."

Kaidan pulled in a deep breath, why were they all looking at him?

"Shepard isn't going anywhere. We could save the colony and return to them later."

"Sure, loverboy. Girl Scout Queen here might decide to make me scrub toilets if I don't," Jack said wryly. He wasn't expecting her support.

'\It's your fault if this shits on us," Zaeed mumbled.

Mordin looked too busy with whatever thoughts were in his head to care about the answer. Grunt was happy to kick more Collector ass.

"We could rig up those AA guns to fire at the ship," Garrus motioned at the gun towers in the distance. This was becoming more doable by the moment.

It proved to be simpler than Kaidan was expecting. He didn't grow comfortable being the person that the others turned to. Or to be the one blamed by the Mechanic (or was it the Maintenance guy?) for the attack on the peaceful settlement. He threw out the typical colonist attitude of being anti-council and anti-alliance, something that Kaidan found to be particularly grating. How Shepard put up with this on a regular basis was beyond him. Especially when someone in her party scoffed at each moment she moved a tich beyond polite. He had many actions to reconsider upon realizing he took many of her efforts for granted. Being the Commander was not a pleasant job, and this mission involved little interpersonal skill with strangers.

Though, the husks and concoctions of mass and bodies firing shockwaves at him was the easy part. Finding the gun and hacking the comm systems was almost too easy, Edi clipped back into contact quickly, working her way into the weapon's programming, so they had a chance at repelling the Collectors.

Then things went to hell.

Scions were easily defeated with only one to face, and the husks nothing more than a menace to be shot away like the annoying pests they were. But add Collector forces that suppressed fire, the six-man team was quickly pinned down. Shields were only recharging fast enough to shake themselves of the husks that had moved around the cover.

Each attempt to advance was halted by the whir of a yellow laser-like blast, that took down Kaidan's defenses faster than he liked to admit. He wasn't the only one having issues, Mordin went down first and Garrus after him in the Turian's attempt to help the scientist.

Grunt's charge had taken out the scion to the right at the cost of breaking from the squad, but the focused fire kept the krogan from moving across the field to help the others.

"Edi, how much longer-" fighting to keep his words from becoming a scream.

"75 percent."

"Edi-"

"75 and one-half percent."

Kaidan swore under his breath, glancing over his cover. The hulking shape shadowing his view of the field before him. Allowing him to watch as the creature plucked him from behind the crate shoving the arm cannon directly into the center of his chest piece.